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Category Archives: Teaching

I’m getting things finished and packed in my studio for next week’s To Bead True Blue show. It’s a great show we do every year in Tucson where we teach classes and also have the ICE Resin booth filled to the brim with jewelry-making goodies. Bezels and ICE and Glitter and Ephemera…oh my! All the stuff we love to create and educate.

I’m teaching three classes this year. Mold making and casting, wireworking by making your own links and components and also some fun foldforming/metal/resin/cold connection work. All of my classes are technique oriented and project focused. You will walk out with a yummy piece of jewelry to wear and you’ll learn new jewelry making and mixed-media techniques for your art making toolbox. Here’s a blog post Carol, our content manager, wrote about the classes on the ICE Queen eZine (blog). Rather than repeating myself, take a look. All the deets are there.

I know Tucson is a show where lots of folks just get in their cars or catch a plane last minute. It doesn’t seem to have the year-in-advance-planning about it like the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee does. I always find is fascinating that different shows in various parts of the country all have their own unique vibes about them. Many of the same people, definitely classes and education but often a different approach all together. The cool thing about Tucson is that you can always just show up to the party at any time and join in. Classes almost always have a least a few openings and the multitude of shows in tents and hotels across the city are little worlds all unto their own.

If you’re coming to Tucson, please be sure to stop by our ICE Resin booth in the Grand Ballroom at the TBTB show at the Doubletree Hotel. This is a change from year’s past where we’ve always been in the wholesale room (small ballroom). Susan made some brand new bezels she cast in bronze and white bronze for the new year and they are gorgeous limited editions.

Here are some pics of the classes I’m teaching. Remember, your finished pieces can look different than mine. Different colors of Iced Enamels, different resin castings and even your own unique image in your resin bezel in the foldformed cuff. I hope to see you there!

Once I get home from Tucson I will be home until the end of March. My plan is to do that serious purge to my studio that I keep talking about. Oy, I’m so embarrassed to openly show what my space looks like, but I promised some friends of mine that I will document the process and share. Art supply hoarding — it’s a common problem. I’ve been here before and I’ll talk about what I do to get a handle on things.

I also have a couple of essays coming up that I’ve written, as well as a tutorial on my art jeans that I made for CHA. I even have a Kid Craft Fail post that I wrote that you might want to see if you’re a crafty mom, aunt or grandparent.

I betcha thought I was never going to get around to post some pics from the Winter 2015 Craft and Hobby Association Show. Well, it definitely took me a lot longer than anticipated but I have a good excuse. (smile) I was in California for 11 days total. My hubby and I left Arizona the Wednesday before the show to drive out the ICE Resin Susan Lenart Kazmer booth. Then there was a day of set up (Thursday) then education day (Friday) where I assisted Jennifer Priest in a business seminar on social media and, later that day, hanging out while Susan taught her awesome Artisan Workshop. Saturday the show began and it was its typical whirlwind — meeting folks, teaching 2 workshops, talking about ICE Resin, scheduling meetings, catching up with old friends in 15 minute spurts and the like for four solid days. Not to mention the evenings where you meet up with friends for dinner and, if you still have some stamina, head on over for some drinks and more shop talk. I’ve said this before, and I say it every year, but CHA for me is like living dog years. It feels like seven months of business is packed into one day. By the end of the show, you have follow up and new opportunities to keep you going until Spring (and beyond). CHA = Long days, hard work, major networking and new business.

Immediately following tear down of the show, I went into family mode. My hubby and children came back to Anaheim so we could spend some time visiting Disneyland, California Adventure and Universal Studios. If you haven’t been to these theme parks in January during the middle of the week, you’ll be amazed by how quiet they are. Wayyyy less people. Rides that normally are an hour wait time are, at the most, a 20 minute wait. Most are a 5 to 10 minute wait. The downside of going this time of year is that the parks hours are shorter and they also shut down some of the most popular attractions for maintenance. It’s a bummer that they’re closed and even more so that Disney still charges full price for the tickets, but the flip side is that you truly can see it all in one day. Now that I made it through the show and the family trip, I can tell you is that nine straight 12-hour long days on one’s feet gets rough.

I know most of you who follow CHA probably did so on our social media channels – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But for those folks who aren’t involved in the day to day crafts industry, here are a few pics to give you a flavor or this big annual trade show. These photos were all taken by Jennifer Priest. I still have yet to pull mine from my phone. I most likely won’t get to it until after the Tucson To Bead True Blue Show the first week in February. (More to come on this next blog post!).

Susan working the booth and showing off her awesome mixed media jewelry using enameling, cold enameling, resin, metal, sgraffito, cold joins, wirework and all the other techniques she uses in her work.

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Me and Jennifer Priest right after our business seminar on Building a Social Media Campaign. We felt amazing to know that our topic was interesting enough to fill the room of more than 125 industry folks.

This pic is one of those that everyone grabs when you walk the show floor and run into people you know. Little pow wows start to gather and before you know it, you’re having a little party with these amazing folks that you get to see every year at CHA. It’s one of my favorite parts of the show. From Left to Right: Jennifer Priest, Susan Lenart Kazmer, Susan Walls, myself, Kathy Cano Murillo and Maya Murillo.

I’m sure you know these faces well. Our fabulous friends and fellow mixed-media artists and instructors came into the classroom as Susan was setting up to teach. Oh, I adore these people! Seth Apter, Mary Beth Shaw, myself, Susan and Pam Carriker. Seth, Pam and Mary Beth all has sold out workshops at the show.

Susan spent some quality time in the booth catching up with students, customers and friends. Don’t you just love her new work and how gorgeous her necklaces are? Keep and eye out for these. Soon to be published in Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine!

I truly love teaching ICE Resin classes to independent store owners. Such smart and creative women! Here we are learning how to collage bezels, mix and pour resin. Yes, you can see that I’m air pouring here. The class was too large for everyone to come up and gather around while I demoed.

Another teaching photo. I always hope to find one where my mouth is not open and my hands are still. Hmmmmm…still waiting on that one. Well, at least its apparent that I take my job as an educator seriously. You will get lots of information in my classes.

I hope this gives a little taste of what CHA is like each year for me. As you can see, there’s nothing from the show floor on all the new products. Alas, that is one of the things I rarely get to do each year. Time is spent in business meetings and teaching and being in the booth. I usually have to follow other people’s blogs — like Jennifer’s — and social media in order to get to see all the exciting new stuff. (Be sure to check out Jennifer’s CHA round up blog where she shows off the latest and greatest)

Here’s wishing you some Artful time in your studios. I’m getting ready to go into mine to make some new pieces for Tucson.

Hi everyone! Just a quick note to let you know that mine and Susan’s workshops for Tucson at the To Bead True Blue show are up. Registration is going on right now over on the ICE Resin website. I’ll be teaching metal and resin techniques, of course. Also wirewrapping and cold enameling with Iced Enamels. Workshop space is limited to 20 students and classes will not be repeated. Space is limited so if you’re joining us, please get your registrations in soon.

Tucson Show Guide 2014 (Be on the lookout for 2015 soon. The shows remain in the same locations though so this can give you lots of insight into Tucson during the gem show season. This guide is published annually by Interweave)

I think I told you about Tombow’s Sticky U program where the company contacted various artists and asked them to participate in a new marketing campaign using the Xtreme glue runner. For a quick refresher, here’s the post I wrote a few weeks ago on it.

Well the deadline has come and I’m excited to share my mixed-media art journal on my blog and also over on Tombow’s blog.

A couple weeks ago I was teaching in Dallas, Texas at a CREATE event. One of my workshops was my Art Journal Jewelry one, where we explore collage, color and mark making and then turn them into one-of-a-kind art jewelry. These images were the pages I created throughout the day as I demoed the techniques and each step in the process.

As I was unpacking my instructor’s box and repacking for my next art retreat in Seattle (Oct. 22-26), I came across my class samples. It seemed the perfect art focal as my Sticky University thesis.

A plain black Moleskein journal became the substrate. I cut down the collage painting on the left of the beautiful Geisha and then attached it quick and easy with the Xtreme glue runner. Wanting to test the company’s marketing information that this new glue is 5x stronger than standard tape runners and will work on everything from wood to acrylic to metal, I cut a strip of vintage measuring tape and glued it down.

Next, I wanted to test the boundaries of this glue with delicate objects so I pulled some beautiful Guinea Hen feathers a student of mine in Dallas gave me and attached them with Xtreme too. The feathers are perfectly adhered and there is zero glue showing through, which is pretty cool if you ask me. I’ve worked with real feathers quite a bit and they are a pain to get right with wet medium.

One quick tip: When using the tape runner be sure to end the gluing motion with a side swipe. This stuff is so wonderfully sticky that if you just lift it off your substrate, the glue will pull up and you’ll have strings to deal with. A quick side swipe cleanly breaks the sticky film. Here’s a good video from Tombow showing how to use it if you’re interested in seeing more.

So now that I’ve had time to play with the product my conclusion is that the Xtreme really is perfect for mixed-media artists. I give it two thumbs up and will continue to use it in my work and keep it as an adhesive staple in my studio. Sure, it’s nice to be a Sticky University graduate, but, really this is a product review and what’s most important to you is to know that it’s simple, easy and works.

Tell me, are you a glue aficionado? What’s you favorite adhesive for your mixed-media work?

I’m thrilled to announce I’ll be teaching at one of my favorite guilty-pleasure vintage shops in Southern California called Gilding the Lily. Every time I go to the Orange County area, I always find a way to sneak over to this little slice of retail therapy Heaven. Owner Nancy Jamar is a beautiful jeweler herself and, wow, does she have an eye for quality. The vintage beads, the rosary chain, the millenary items, the lace, the trim..swoon…my heart is beating faster just thinking about it!

I created a brand-new class just for Gilding the Lily and called it Mon Petite Coeur, or My Little Heart necklace. I’ll be teaching how to use ICE Resin with backless bezels and how to train your artistic eye to design for both positive and negative space. The necklace includes three beautiful Rue Romantique by Kristen Robinson bezels, vintage bits and bobbles, one-of-a-kind transparencies, some lovely Connie Crystal beads, as well as gorgeous tattered ribbon and gilded rosary chain found only at Gilding the Lily. Students can easily bring a family photo or a vintage tin type to include in bezel if they wish to personalize it.

I adore the store in Fullerton and the people there so much I wanted to make the class special. It’s a deal at $115 for the day and includes everything you need to make your unique piece of art. This is my last teaching gig of the year and thrilled to finish off 2014 on such a beautiful note.

You can sign up now. Space is limited to 15. I hope you see you there!

Tomorrow I will be in Dallas. What am I most looking forward to? Texas style hospitality, Texas-sized creativity and tons of fun.

When I was working on new classes last year, I came up with the idea of doing some lariat necklaces. I thought to myself, “Self, now as an Arizonan, I love to wear a good lariat necklace. My Texas folks ought to get it too.” The funny thing is I taught it in Chicago in August and I had more than one person come to me and say, “That is a pretty class, but I gotta ask you, what’s a lariat?” Just goes to show the world is not all alike is it?

If you want to learn a little more about how my lariats came together, take a peek at this blog post I wrote right before Chicago. After you read it, you might be able to picture me in my cowboy boots (round toe, I just can’t wear those pointy kind!), my new cowgirl chic lariat necklace with a hammer in one hand and cold enameling supplies in another.

I’ll be posting pics of the CREATE Dallas event on Instagram and Facebook. Please, if you’re on Facebook and you haven’t done it already, click on my business page and “like” me.

I’m working in my studio like a mad dog this week getting ready for Dallas next week (Sept. 17-21, 2014) where I’ll be teaching five workshops at CREATE. Since I’ve been at my bench more than usual, I thought I would share one of my favorite graphics that I found a few years ago on Pinterest. I have no idea who the originator of this art is so if you are the creator, please drop me a comment and let me know so I can appropriately credit your work.

I remember the first time I took a workshop from Susan in 2005 where I got to experience a blowtorch for the first time. I drew beads on the end of bronze wire and watched slack-jawed how the beads seemed to defy gravity as they balled upwards on to themselves when I dipped them in the blue tip of the flame. That was a defining moment in my future metalworking career.

Like always, I’ll be traveling with my plumbers torch next week. No worries, I don’t bring it on the plane. I pack just the hose and nozzle in my teaching box and ship it ahead of time and always find a kind local student to buy me some MAPP gas from the hardware store. I always have it with me, like a teaching security blanket. I feel it’s my duty to introduce women to the wonders of fire and power tools. Can I get a high-five?

I’d love to hear from you. Do you use a torch? What is your favorite kind? Let’s wax poetic about the wonders of fire.

My books and DVD

As an artist, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it when you like my work well enough to buy my books, DVD and products. The links below are affiliate links. When you click on them and make a purchase, I earn a commission. For my books, it's like an awesome double whammy because I'll earn my royalty from the publisher, plus a few pennies from Amazon. Thanks for your support!

Books I’ve contributed to

A note to readers

In the spirit of full disclosure, I work with a handful of craft companies whose products I use and enjoy for my articles and workshops. While products and/or compensation may be provided to me for educational/publishing opportunities, I'm an independent artist and choose to talk about and promote only the products I personally use and endorse. In addition, my work with Susan Lenart Kazmer ICE Resin is a heartfelt passion of mine that came about from my personal use of the products as a mixed-media artist long before I became a co-owner of the company.